Owen, David
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(? - ) UK journalist and author of Young Adult novels. His first, Panther (2015), rims Fantastika edgily in the story of a panther loose in London that the protagonist hopes to trap, in order to lift himself from depression caused in part by living in the suburbs. In The Fallen Children: They Will Rise (2017) a similar world is suddenly overturned when four adolescent girls on the Midwich Estate disappear overnight while all around them fall mysteriously asleep; when the community comes to its senses the next day they are all inexplicably pregnant. The tale is a clear and acknowledged pendant to John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), though distinct in its emphasis on the difficulties faced by the four as they attempt to persuade their community that they are not lying; there is also some hint that something like the End of the World may soon be born. All the Lonely People (2019) can be understood as a Satire on the contemporary Media Landscape, with social media its specific target; but the narrative soon focuses on the fate of its young protagonist who, bruised and disgusted by online assaults on her, cancels all her internet connectivity and begins, literally, to disappear (see Invisibility). That she is expectedly rescued by becoming involved in another victim (see Clichés) does not seriously diminish the effectiveness of the enabling conceit.
David Owen should not be confused with any of the several David Owens, including the politician (1938- ), who have become known and/or have published books. [JC]
David Owen
born London
works
- Panther (London: Constable and Robinson/Corsair, 2015) [pb/]
- The Fallen Children: They Will Rise (London: Atom, 2017) [pb/Jack Smyth]
- All the Lonely People (London: Atom, 2019) [pb/]
links
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